By By Chandler Myers
All good things must come to an end, but the seniors on Escambia Academy’s varsity basketball team would give anything to have overtime back after their 72-66 first-round loss to Meadowview Christian in the regional tournament.
The Cougars battled all game with Meadowview, with both teams possessing the lead several times during the game.
In the first quarter, the Cougars edged out the Trojans by outscoring them 13-12.
EA continued to lead the game throughout the second quarter as they added 16 more points on the scoreboard, and only allowed Meadowview to score 13 more before halftime. As the buzzer sounded, the Cougars led 29-25.
Cougars head coach Kevin Woods said his team was in sync in the first half.
After halftime, the Trojans crawled back into the game and took the lead in the third quarter.
Twenty-nine points in the third quarter helped Meadowview push ahead of the Cougars as they only scored 12 points. Entering the final period, the Trojans led 54-41.
In the fourth quarter, the Cougars stepped up their defense and fought a 13-point deficit and regained control of the game by scoring 19 points. The Trojans only scored six points with two of them coming off a lucky shot that sent the game to overtime with the teams tied at 60.
Woods said the Cougars thought the game was in hand, but a Meadowview player made an interesting play.
The tip swung the momentum of the game into Meadowview’s favor when overtime started.
The Trojans poured in 12 points, and picked up a six point victory over the Cougars sending them back to Canoe earlier than they had hoped.
Woods said his team gave a great effort and played a physical game.
The Cougars were paced by two of their graduating players as forwards Blake Kirk and Jeff Price scored 17 points each in the loss. Kirk also posted five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Price recorded a double-double pulling down 14 boards, passing out four assists and snagging a steal.
Woods said Price and Kirk really helped spark the offense.
Cougars junior guard Michael Hipa added 15 points, four rebounds, two assists and two steals in the regional tournament game.